I am an environmental social scientist studying the social and psychological processes underpinning conservation and adaptation behavior. My research investigates topics such as the social nature of wildfire smoke adaptation decisions in the Western U.S., conservation behavior in a coral reef environment in Hawaiʻi, and coastal community resilience and climate adaptation in southeastern Louisiana. I draw on theories and approaches from conservation and social psychology, environmental sociology, and human geography, while using multiple methods, such as surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. Through community-engagement, I aim to ground my research in place-based questions and partner with local and Indigenous peoples on issues of conservation practice and climate justice.

Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Western Forest and Fire Initiative at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. I received my PhD in environment and resources from Stanford University, and in the fall of 2023, I will join the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington as an Assistant Professor of climate adaptation.

Before my doctoral studies, I worked for eight years on air quality, coastal pollution, and marine policy issues for non-profits and government agencies, including the Energy Foundation, Earthjustice, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. I received a master's degree in coastal marine science and management from UC Santa Barbara and a BA in history from Yale University.

I was born in Northern California and moved to Vermont as a child. I now consider both places to be home. I am happy to be addressed by my full name “Francisca” (pronounced fran-SIS-kah), which was my great-grandmother’s name, or by the nickname “Kika” (pronounced KEE-kah), which is a diminutive of Francisca from Mexican Spanish. My pronouns are she/her.